Building Barbecues and Outdoor Kitchens
by - Written: Mar 04 '04 (Updated Jan 04 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Detailed well-illustrated comprehensive and responsible building guide.
Cons: The largest projects enclosed would be rather overwhelming using only this book, I feel.
The Bottom Line: Get this book for a comprehensive guide to planning and building the grill you want for your personal wide open spaces.
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| snpmurray's Full Review: |
I recently bought a new house and in the process of landscaping the yard I plan to erect a brick-built barbecue and smoker from scratch, just to keep me occupied through the spring. To this end I had a look around the literature available, and the only book that seemed to hold out much hope of being comprehensive and focused was "Building Barbecues and Outdoor Kitchens" so I got a copy.
No information is included in this book to tell us who was involved in the writing of each of the chapters or their special qualifications for doing so, so here I must draw a blank. I guess the recipe will be tested by baking the cake!
The book is divided into three sections, a preparatory introduction to the choices one will need to make in deciding upon the right design for you, and the available options. Next, a long chapter including the plans for many designs of barbecue, and finally a section on materials and techniques required for the building of the structure itself.
Cooking Outdoors, an Introduction
In this section the authors discuss how to choose the right project for your needs. How often will you use your grill, and in what environment? How much money can you spend, how much space do you have? Do you want an entire outdoor kitchen or just a simple charcoal grill built out of a small pile of bricks? The choices that will be available to you given all of these variables are laid out, often in large beautifully photographed examples.
For an example of the quality illustration common throughout this book, the section describing the essential differences between a gas grill and a traditional charcoal one gives large half-page cut-away diagrams, showing the workings, the materials, and the overall appearance of both. This is a book whose visual aides are strong, which I am pleased by, since I am a very visual-learning person.
A run-through is given here of the different kinds of surface materials for your grill, each with a color illustration clearly indicating its texture, along with the wide variety of different appliances you might employ.....smokers, electric and gas grills, fire pits, adobe ovens, etc etc.
Design considerations such as the best location for your installation, how to find out what your local codes and regulations will be, and what kind of professionals you might consider employing are also discussed here.
You could conceivably come to this book with no knowledge of how to even use a grill or barbecue at all, and leave the end of it ready to proceed with building one. Since this is entirely the objective of the authors, I say they score high points on this section.
Barbecue Projects
This section contains 16 plans for barbecue projects of all kinds. From the very simplest pile of bricks constructed around a metal grill, to full outdoor kitchens, including sinks, disposals and every other appliance you could think of.
For each plan a similar format is followed, whether large or small.
First, a materials checklist is given so you will know what you're going to need and can start budgeting the project. A full plate color photograph of the finished project is on the first page, giving a very good idea of what you are going to get. Building notes are detailed. Each step is delineated nicely, with precise measurements wherever these can be had.
Annotated diagrams are common throughout, with measurements right on the diagrams in a clear fashion. The diagrams are often cut away in order that one may "see through" the structure as it is built, seeing how the back is coming together at the same time as the front. At least one diagram half page sized is reserved to show exactly which materials are used for each element of the project.
Here are some of the projects:
Small slate barbecue
Cobblestone charcoal barbecue
Outdoor indoor kitchen
Simple brick barbecue
Sculptural fire pit
Adobe oven
Italian pizza oven
Chimney cooker
The instructions for constructing each project frequently include such comments as "completely stucco exterior brickwork." This would be the end of the line for me right there if it were not for section three, where each of these individual techniques is explained.....
Materials and Techniques
Unless you are extraordinarily handy, you are going to need this section most of all; I know that is true of me. Here we cover all of the skills and techniques that one requires for each of the projects included in the book. Conceivably one could enter into the intricacies of constructing an entire outdoor fitted kitchen using only this book, but it would be daunting. As the authors state, they do include detailed instructions on how to perform every stage of construction listed in the project plans. What they cannot do is give a reader skill at planning. As I know from the more complicated operations of my own job, possessing skills and planning their effective orchestration in time and space are very different matters.
This section sensibly begins by describing the collection of tools that one will require for any barbecue building project. Diagrams of each piece of equipment are included for cretins like me who wouldn't know a cold chisel or neon tester if it leapt up and bit me in the ax.
Extensive discussion is then entered into concerning the properties and comparative qualities of all prospective building materials. In particular, the authors concentrate a lot of time and space both discussing and illustrating different types of masonry. Where different grades of each material are available, they are illustrated with diagrams or photographs, whichever best shows off their nature.
Getting down to nitty gritty, we then learn in sections devoted to each, how to make concrete, how to cast a concrete slab, how to mix and apply mortar, build with brick, and so on and so on. The brick section, typical as any, breaks up the pages between detailed step-by-step instructions and detailed step-by step diagrams. The pages actually resemble a comic book in this section, as the text and the diagrams prepare you in strict progression for each procedure. This style works very well, and instructions feel idiot-proof.
How to build a countertop, how to tile, how to install propane, how to plumb an outdoor kitchen, the whole thing is covered here in the style described above.
The book closes out with a very brief discussion of fuels, and a basic guide to grilling times for major food groups. This is a mere introduction, and really beyond the scope of this volume, you should really seek elsewhere for how to cook on your grill once you have actually constructed it. There is a good index, and a detailed contents at the beginning of the book.
Right, where's my wheelbarrow....?
Some more of my DIY reviews:
The Complete Guide to Building Decks
Building Fences and Gates
Building composters
Step-by-step Birdhouses
The Complete Photo Guide to Outdoor Home Improvement: More Than 150 Projects
Recommended:
Yes
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